26th January 2011

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck and kissed him." (Luke 15:18-20).

Here is a tale of the unexpected. The son’s best hope is that his father will take him on as a servant, but the father receives him with joy before a word of remorse can pass the boy’s lips. The absolute restoration to his position as a son contrasts with the boy’s former wilful disregard, the extravagance of the acceptance with the profligacy of the departure. It is beyond measure, yet utterly convincing.